It is a rollercoaster Bill, be warned. The process of buying a house is SO stressful. And there are so many people involved... it is kind of amazing real estate ever gets sold. Know that there will be ups and downs, and that it is in everyone's interest to get the house sold. Also keep in mind that however nice this property is, if this one falls through, there are other lovely properties to be had too, and it is hard to anticipate what will come up. Life in the micro-cosm, in short. Keep breathing, take a "wait and see" attitude until you get the closing papers, and then break out the party hats!
Oh, and expect the mortgage people to be IMPOSSIBLE. Just start out by printing four copies of everything, that way when they ask for things AGAIN it is just a matter of handing them the next copy. I find it is much less annoying than having to go ASSEMBLE everything again and print it. If you can just grab what they want and hand/send it to them, you can then just feel smug and superior - which I prefer to feeling annoyed and put upon. They will ask you the same things eight times. They will ask you for documents you've already provided. They will make mistakes. There will be miscommunications. Expect this. It doesn't necessarily mean the deal is going to fall through. I hope your real estate people do better than the ones here typically do (my H and I have an awesome agent and mortgage broker and property inspector, but OMG have I heard horror stories.)
There is often "drama" in real estate transactions, and it is totally optional. YOU don't have to buy into any of it. Just make the decision in front of you, and sign the papers. Really, that's all there is to it. No cause for drama at all. The people involved are not your friends. They are not your family. You have an obligation to be polite and respectful, but their feelings are their own problem, not yours. Don't get sucked in.
Seriously, I've done this a lot of times. It is all about making decisions (do you want this or that? How much do you want to pay? Are you willing to accept this, or will you walk away and look for another place? - that is pretty much it.) And signing papers. Nobody gets hurt, nobody needs to yell. It is just business. More complicated than buying groceries, but effectively the same thing. People get worked up because it is a lot of money, and because they attach so much to the *idea* of the house.
Stay cool. You'll be fine. And if this house doesn't work out, there are a lot of wonderful houses in the world.
